NOTICE:We are receiving consumer complaints regarding the Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Foods. We do not know what is wrong with the food at this time, but we have heard that animals are vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. Although the problems seem to be focused on one particular lot, as a precautionary measure, we are pulling all dates of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food from the shelves. Please discontinue feeding all Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food.

We are working closely with the FDA.We will update this website today, as more information comes available.

I feed mine the Ultra Premium, except Tucker eats the Salmon & whatever it is allergy formula. I never went with the Venison..... Hope anyone that is/was feeding it isn't having the problems mentioned.

That sucks, I thought "holistic" foods were safe... Then again, all vet-sold foods were supposed to be safe, and Hill's prescription diet feline m/d as well as medi-cal feline dissolution were taken off the shelves, who knows where it will end...

Its just a supplier for one ingredient that's the issue, so doesn't mean that the food on a whole is bad, the company they were getting this one ingredient from switched sources and voila

If you are concerned, perhaps write an email to the company explaining this and asking if they will cover some basic bloodwork at your veterinarians. Alternatively, if you are able to do it you could have bloodwork done on your own, there are some fairly cost effective options that may at least give you an idea, I think the most basic bloodwork you can get at my work at least is called a Pre-anesthetic screen (PAS) and costs about $52 plus I believe a $22 collection fee, so not too much, especially for peace of mind

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

On April 17 2007, Malli wrote:Its just a supplier for one ingredient that's the issue, so doesn't mean that the food on a whole is bad, the company they were getting this one ingredient from switched sources and voila

hm, but salmonella doesn't cause kidney problems, I don't think? I thought issues would be more like GI upset, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration from those...

good to know all the same, at any rate, all the other food being recalled is because of that one ingredient I mentioned...

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Pacoima, CA -- April 17, 2007-- Natural Balance, Pacoima, CA, is issuing a voluntary nationwide recall for all of its Venison dog products and the dry Venison cat food only, regardless of date codes. The recalled products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats, and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food. Recent laboratory results show that the products contain melamine. We believe the source of the melamine is a rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance has confirmed this morning that some production batches of these products may contain melamine.

The recall was prompted by consumer complaints received by Natural Balance involving a small number of cats and dogs that developed kidney failure after eating the affected product.

Dogs or cats who have consumed the suspect food and show signs of kidney failure (such as loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting) should be seen by a veterinarian. We recommend our customers immediately stop feeding our recalled venison products regardless of date code and return unused product to their retailer for a full refund.

The products are packaged in bags, cans and zip lock treat bags and sold in pet specialty stores and PetCo nationally.No other Natural Balance products are involved in this voluntary recall as none of our other formulas include the rice protein concentrate.

Although the problems seem to be focused on a particular production period of the venison products, over the last four days we have notified our distributors and retailers by phone and e-mail to immediately stop selling and return all recalled Venison dog foods and treats and the Venison dry cat food. Venison canned cat food is not involved.

The source of the melamine appears to be a rice protein concentrate, which was recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination.

None of Natural Balanceâ€™s other dry formulas, none of our other canned or roll products and none of our other treats are involved with this voluntary recall.

We continue to work closely with the FDA in their ongoing investigation.

The industrial chemical melamine has been found in more pet food, and suspicion is falling on a second pet-food ingredient imported from China as the source of the contamination. Natural Balance Pet Foods said Tuesday it found melamine in samples of some of its food, which led to a recall. The company suspects melamine was in a rice protein concentrate used as an ingredient, said President Joey Herrick in an interview.

Melamine is the chief suspect related to the Menu Foods recall, first announced four weeks ago for more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food. The melamine in Menu's products was in wheat gluten imported from China and sold to Menu and several other pet-food makers, which also did recalls.

The rice protein concentrate was imported from China by San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis. Herrick says the concentrate, which is being tested, is suspected to have melamine, as it was the only new ingredient. Recalled Natural Balance products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and dry dog foods, dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.

Wilbur-Ellis CEO John Thacher said his company sold the concentrate to five pet-food makers, but that most of it went to two firms. One of the primary companies was Diamond Pet Foods, which packs some of the Natural Balance product but doesn't use the concentrate in any Diamond-made foods, says Diamond spokesman Jim Fallon. The other major customer, which Thacher would not name, tested the rice protein and found no melamine, Thacher says. Natural Balance's rice protein concentrate is mixed with venison meal, Thacher says.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: China | Food and Drug Administration | Foods | Petcare | Menu Foods | Balance Natural Balance has received about 10 reports of sick pets, mostly dogs, since Thursday, Herrick says. It started testing the foods Friday, when it also asked retailers to pull the products. As in the Menu recall, some of the pets developed kidney failure, Natural says.

Natural Balance was co-founded in 1989 by actor Dick Van Patten, according to the company's website.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that melamine is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats. It said Monday that Natural Balance had informed the agency of the issue. Thacher says it told the FDA on Sunday that it had detected melamine in some rice protein concentrate imported from China about a week ago. Wilbur-Ellis has ceased importing the ingredient from the Chinese firm, Binzhou Futian Biology Technology, Thacher says.

melamine is the same chemical that was found in all the other tainted food brands that were recalled.

I don't understand how this is a different recall then the others??

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
_______________________________________
"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSIâ€™ve heard the brown rice is the problem, is this true?

NO. The rice and brown rice are not a problem. The problem is rice protein concentrate that is only used in the four products involved in the recall.

Iâ€™ve heard the venison is a problem, is this true?

NO. The rice protein concentrate is the problem, and is only used in the the Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, Venison & Brown Rice Canned Dog Food, the Venison & Brown Rice Formula Dog Treats and the Venison & Green Pea Cat Food. These are the only products involved in the recall.
What products are affected?

From time to time we evaluate our formulas and look for ways to improve them. We recently looked at the Venison dry formulas and thought that adding another protein source would improve the formula. Unfortunately, the rice protein concentrate was contaminated with melamine.

How can we trust your other foods?

We do NOT use rice protein concentrate in any other products in our product line.
We do NOT use wheat gluten in any of our dog or cat foods, except for Crunch-E-Bones, which is being discontinued.

Why donâ€™t you make your own food?

There is virtually no company, large or small in the U.S. that makes 100% of its own food because
There are many expert companies that specialize in contract manufacturing, and we work with two of the best.
These co-packers make the food under contract to the companyâ€™s specifications of proprietary formulas.
We have been working with the same manufacturers for over 10 years.

Why arenâ€™t you using lot codes for the recall?

Ignoring lot numbers and date codes is the fastest way for us to get potentially affected product off the shelves.
Waiting for lot numbers and date codes would have been more precise but would have delayed the process.
The Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food, Venison & Brown Rice Canned Dog Food, the Venison & Brown Rice Formula Dog Treats and the Venison & Green Pea Cat Food contain the rice protein concentrate that is linked to the problem.

How were you able to act so quickly?

We acted so quickly because our Registered Veterinary Technician/ Customer Service Representative received six calls on April 12th (Thursday) and April 13th (Friday) all from dog families who had started using a â€œnewâ€